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Anathonia
Timeline Anathonia: Founded ~100 years after the conclusion of the Planar Wars > 0 FA - 114 FA First Expansion Period > 114 FA - 132 FA Sathkarian War and War of Succession > 132 FA - 237 FA Second Expansion Period > 237 FA - 252 FA Second War of Succession > 252 FA - 304 FA Anathonian Golden Age > 304 FA - 419 FA Great Orc War > 419 FA - 537 FA Rebuilding Period, First Trade Wars > 537 FA - 564 FA Second Sathkarian War > 564 FA - 604 FA Union of Crowns, Second Trade Wars Anathonia lies on the eastern side of the Veiled Peaks, stretching across the plains to the western edge of the Gilded Sea. It is bounded to the southwest by the Moonspur Mountains and on the south and east by the Sathkarian Empire, fierce rivals for maritime trade and dominance of Ostea. Anathonia is primarily populated by humans; of the other races only halflings have significant population centers, often forming sizable farming enclaves in the heartland of Anathonia. Itinerant gnome bands travel Anathonia in their brightly colored wagons, enjoying the rule of law that provides better protection from discrimination than many other lands, a fact which also draws a disproportionate number of Tieflings to settle there. Elves, Dwarves, and Dragonborn are rare, often appearing only as visiting foreigners or displaced refugees. Anathonians are known for their sense of honesty and honor, their work ethic, and their piety, and maintain a reputation for ruthlessness. Goran the Rod is the patron god of Anathonia, and his worship is widespread amongst both the human and halfling populations. Humans from this area tend towards fair skin and hair, while the royal Vostase line is famous for their combination of red hair and green eyes. Anathonians are tall and lanky, angular of face and build with sharp chins and beak-like noses. Anathonian Halflings are considered the Stout subrace, sporting darker hair than the humans and lantern jaws. Anathonian Gnomes are Rock gnomes, and were it not for their stature and overlarge eyes and mouths they could be mistaken for Anathonian humans, sharing their light complexion and hair, though redheads are more common in gnomes than the humans. First Expansion Period Anathonia was founded some years after the Planar Wars when King Owen Asrikes the First of Usmeno ousted the royal family of Gusteno, three years after forcing the elder council of Ospeno to submit to his rule. Owen called the people of these three cities Anathonians, after the Anathonian Plain which occupied the land between them, which means God Praised in the Old Tounge. The borders of this new kingdom gradually spread to encompass all the towns and settlements on that plain over the next hundred years. In that time Anathonia became a significant maritime power, dominating trade on the Gilded Sea and the Eralene Ocean. Sathkarian War In 114 FA Anathonia's dominance was challenged by the emerging Sathkarian Empire, which had come from the east to absorb several of the wealthiest citystates on the southeastern coast of the Gilded Sea. In response King Brice Asrikes (known to history as Brice the Proud) moved south against the city state of Thadineth in 117 FA, hoping to control Vinotho, the strait between the Gilded Sea and the Eralene Ocean. The senate of Thadienth appealed to the Sathkarian Empire for protection, who responded by deploying the legions to the Anathonian side of the Gilded Sea. The Anathonians were unable to prevent this naval invasion, and the Sathkarian War resulted in a devastating loss for the Anathonians: Thadineth was officially absorbed as a territory of the Sathkarian Empire as well as Piraleno (a formerly independent citystate that had sided with the Anathonians in the war) and the Anathonians were forced to make significant trade concessions and pay tribute as reparations. War of Succession The 120s were a period of internal turmoil in Anathonia as the first War of Succession was fought after King Brice Asrikes was deposed by the Council of Lords, and without another Asrikes heir the question of which noble house should ascend to the throne resulted in open violence between three (and sometimes five) competing factions. Ultimately Duke Edgar Obindas of Ospeno was able to solidify support behind his claim to the throne, and the Obindas dynasty was confirmed by the Council of Lords by 132 FA. The Obindas dynasty would go on to fight a series of smaller campaigns on the borders of the Gilded Sea, undoing much of the damage suffered in the Peace of Thadineth while rarely coming into direct conflict with the Sathkarian Empire. Second War of Succession This gradual expansion persisted until 237 FA, when the Obindas line would come to an end with Alfred Obindas the Weak, who died young of a wasting illness. His wife Erica the White would attempt to rule in her own name with the support of her family, the Dunemols, but questions over the legitimacy of her rule and attempt to impose matrilineal succession on the kingdom resulted in revolution, assassination, and the Second War of Succession. Truthfully, the Second War of Succession was not a singular conflict but rather a series of vicious wars that did not result in a stable dynasty until 252 FA when Garth Vostace the Pious was able to defeat his rival claimants and abolish the Council of Lords, being confirmed as King of Anathonia by the High Priest of Goran at Usmeno. For the first time the legitimace of the Kingship of Anathonia was tied to the Church of Goran, and the influence of the Church would spread widely in the lives of Garth and his successor, becoming entrenched in the political and social structure of Anathonia over the next thirty years. Golden Age of Anathonia The Vostace dynasty would continue to gains made by the Obindas dynasty, building Anathonia into a maritime powerhouse that would come to supplant the Sathkarian Empire, which was dealing with significant internal turmoil throughout the latter half of the century. The city of Thadineth came under Anathonian influence in this time, and Anathonian fleets would become significant players in the politics among the Free Cities of the West as well as the dealings of the Kingdom of Okutar. Great Orc War This golden age would come to an end early in the fourth century FA, when an orc cheiftan named Zur Xodu of the Cold Rock Clan gained dominance over several other orcish clans in Tar Loz, the rugged steppes to the north of Anathonia. A consumate politican, Zur knew that the best way to unite the disparate orc clans was to provide them with a common enemy. He lead the Cold Rocks on daring raids which not only provided the clan with gold, slaves, and quality weapons and magical items, but also provoked reprisals from the Anathonian lords, reprisals which often as not targeted other, uninvolved orcish clans. The Cold Rock clan was able to easily subsume these weakened neighbors, and even used their plight as a rallying point for other strong orc clans to unite under the banner of Zur Xodu. In 304, the self-styled Khan would lead a mighty host of orcs against the Anathonians, surprising the defenders and overwhelming the river defenses. Gusteno would be subjected to a prolonged siege as the orcs lacked the skill to breach the walls, but many more orcs would bypass the city and wash over the Anathonian plain. King Kelby Vostace would lead an army north to relieve Gusteno, but was caught off guard by the rapidly moving orc forces which fell on them while encamped. The main part of the Anathonian army was smashed and king Kelby was killed in battle; his son Sten the Hammer would lead the surviving troops on a fighting withdrawal, first toward Usmeno, and later toward Ospeno when the prior city was also besieged by orcs. The Orc War would continue for years; Gusteno would succumb to siege after 14 years, and was burned to the ground in an orgy of pillage and destruction. Desperate fighting would rage across the Anathonian plain until 323, when King Sten the Hammer and an allied army of dwarves would defeat Khan Zur Xodu in a pitched battle, killing many prominent orc warlords and mortally wounding the Khan himself, who would linger on as a mute invalid until his final death in 326. The death of the Orc khan would not truly end the Orc War, as the khagnate would into several successor states as individual clans squabbled for control of the khagnate or split off to assert individual territorial claims. Rebuilding Period The time to come would be remembered as the Great Expulsion as civilized Anathonians drove the orc clans back to Tar Loz in a process that would symbolically end with the recapture and rebuilding of Gusteno in 419, but not truly reach equilibrium until circa 435. Even then Second Sathkarian War In 537 the Sathkarian Empire would assert control over the Vinitho, resulting in the Second Sathkarian War. Over the next fifteen years the forces of Kingdom and Empire would clash on both land and sea as control of the Vinitho was slowly wrested from Anathonia, with much of the fighting being done by highly paid mercenary forces on both sides. One such group, the Gilded Company, would defect after failing to receive pay from the Anathonian king for several months; after the Sathkarian Empire paid the mercenaries the lost wages in addition to a substantial advance retainer fee, the Gilded Company would march from their position on the estuary of the Belepi and escort a large Sathkarian fleet up the river to the city of Thadineth, capturing that city by surprise. This would prove to be the tipping point in the war, as the cash-strapped Kingdom of Anathonia lost complete control of the Vinitho and thus access to the Eralene and the lucrative trade with the Free Cities of the West. King Olaf Vospace the Black would be forced to sign the second treaty of Thadineth in 554 FA, recognizing that city's independence, acceding to limitations on trade and fleet size in the Gilded Sea, and paying tribute to the Sathkarian Emperor. King Olaf would be forced to abdicate in 554 FA, but the House of Vospace would retain control of the the throne with the ascension of his brother's son Hagar the Bold. Hagar would spend the early years of his reign quashing the rebellions of his barons and counts who could not afford to pay the taxes levied by the Crown to pay for the Second Sathkarian War. Needing a new source of revenue, as well as desiring the resources to rebuild and rearm for future conflicts with the Sathkarian empire, Hagar the Bold would unite his disaffected vassals with the promise of foreign conquest and the acquisition of new lands and titles. Union of Crowns Thus, in 564 FA, ten years after his ascension to the throne, the young Hagar Vospace would declare war on the neighboring kingdom of Okutar. Though initial attacks across Aelwyn's Saddle were repulsed by the defenders, they were merely a feint for the main action, a naval invasion of Okuettad and Sushsatheno in 565 which caught the Okushin by surprise, with their main force fighting in Aelwyn's Saddle. The Okushin army would ride south, meeting the northward advance of the Anathonian army in 566 at the village which would come to be known as Kingsfield in the Watchful Wood, just south of the confluence of Jeong's Whip and the Quistra. In the Battle of Kingsfield Hagar the Bold would meet and slay the Okushin King Morvyn Stareyed. With Prince Bedgar falling in that same battle, the Okushin dukes were unable to organize effective resistance, and the army withdrew in disarray. King Morvyn's daughter Wynne Cingshu had been captured in the prior invasion of Okuettad, and King Hagar quickly returned there and compelled her to marry him, giving him a strong claim to the throne of Okutar. By 568 the last of the Okushin lords had either sworn fealty to King Hagar or been exiled from Okutar, thus beginning the Union of Crowns era. Category:Regions